


The Hardest Test of All

by bdamanlover4ever



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Genre: First Kisses, Fluff and Angst, Fluffy Ending, Kisses, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF, Team Bonding, They are 12 year olds, They're All Gay, Training, Trust Issues, don't worry they get together, it's fluffy, its sorta dramatic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 10:46:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13269834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bdamanlover4ever/pseuds/bdamanlover4ever
Summary: “Are you really facing your problems like this?”“YES!”“I don’t think so. I think that you let their words get to you! I think that you always allow other people to bring you down.”“WELL… WELL.. WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME ANYTHING?”Denki raised an eyebrow as he tilted his head to the side as if analyzing to see Iwabe’s face. A sick feeling washed over him as his caring eyes slowly sank into one’s of dismay, he closed them. Shameful he raised his hand placing them over his shuttering eyelids. He sadly uttered out, “I cannot tell the strong anything, can I?”Iwabe sucked his teeth and glared at Denki harshly. He couldn't tell if this kid was serious or not. Half of Iwabe wanted to slap him and the other half wanted to shower him in kisses.ORHe knew he should have never encouraged the team to go training today. They just weren't ready.. Maybe their team would always not be ready. MAYBE they just SUCKED. And it was Iwabe's fault for letting them suck. Yeah, that was it. All Iwabe did was fail and putting him on their team was just going to forever make them all fail.





	The Hardest Test of All

**Author's Note:**

  * For [IwabeWantsTheDenki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IwabeWantsTheDenki/gifts).



> This was a request from [ tumblr](http://iwabe-wants-the-denki.tumblr.com/) and I am so thankful I got to write their babies! I had so much fun on this. Sorry it took so long! :D  
> Disclaimer: I don't own Boruto!

Nothing was left for him here. All the crimson liquid had been spilled along with his hopes and dreams of redemption. His brown hands were stained, his heart contorted, while his mind hovered in the clouds.

The wind nipped at his ears whispering, “ _ This is why you failed... _ ” It was a somber sound of devastation, the silence that came after the storm where there was nothing left to do but reflect on one’s failures.

Even as the sun kissed the horizon, with it’s tender rays, the downpour of dirt didn’t stop coming.  _ It wouldn’t stop coming.  _ The soil shower was  _ his _ baptism. All the sin bouncing back in a mimicking reflection,  _ that he couldn’t escape. _ He wouldn’t  _ ever _ escape.

Mockingly the wind kept pestering him, “Iwabe….Iwabe...Iwabe...” Repeating his name with more scorn each time.

Dazed hazel orbs marveled at the limp body laying before him. It gave him an ethereal fill of fear that he couldn’t...

_ Couldn’t hold his team together… _

“Denki! Get up! Get up!!” Iwabe let out a hollar, as he sunk to his knees slowly. His hands wrapping around his friend’s head as his slender finger ran through his slick black locks. The small body was propped up against his larger body as he cradled him. A blessed sound of a heartbeat against the other was like music to his ears as their foreheads pressed together lightly.

Denki twitched slightly as a few beads of sweat rolled down delicately from his forehead, as his chest heaved up and down. Confused dark black eyes cracked open slightly, almost as if it was a hallucination: Upon seeing his friend having a fit over him. It gave him a worried feeling as he steadied himself against Iwabe’s strong body. “Why are you screaming?” Denki asked confused, as he stared up at his friend. “I’m up.”

Iwabe glazed over Denki, the way he looked made the smaller boy feel overly exposed so he rocked a bit trying to roll over. There was short glimmers of relief in Iwabe’s solid gaze but mostly it was utter dismissal. Which made Denki panic that he’d done something extremely wrong. Sp he quickly attempted to straighten up, the boy using his hands to fumble around and feel where his glasses hit the ground at, his nimble fingers grazing over the dirt and grass in search for the plastic frames. 

Until bloody cut hands halted his search by grabbing his wrist in a cool swift action. Iwabe’s chilly hands skimmed Denki’s peach skin feeling the blood madly coursing through his veins from his quick pulse. A firm expression was glued to Iwabe’s face as he said, “No. You’re not up at all!” He quipped.

“What do you mean, I’m not up? I’m not dead! Isn’t that enough, I’m not dead?”

“Of course not! No one dies from being dropped a few times! You being dead was the last thing i thought.”

“Wow...couldn't tell from the expression on your face.”

“I was just worried that Metal overthrew you and from my perspective it looked like you landed on your head.”

“No bleeding from my skull so far.”

“I can see that now.”

“You sound hostile….maybe a bit upset.”

“I AM NOT!”

Quick paced footsteps were heard by the crunching of leaves under feet as Metal made his way ver. The black haired boy almost gawked at the sight of his team mates, “Iwabe, Denki! How’d it turn out?”

Clicking his teeth together with scorn,  Iwabe dropped his hands off of Denki, almost instantly leaving the other boy wanting more. His brown orbs burning as he hastily crossed his arms, “You can look at the target and see how it went.” He mentioned over to the target on the tree which was still completely untouched.

“Hmmm!” Metal let out a very low and disappointed sigh. Then he rubbed the slight muscles on his arm sensing his mistake, as his eyes drifted towards the ground looking at Denki. To his teammate he babbled out, “Sorry for the sloppy throw.” He reached on the ground picking up Denki’s glasses and handing them to him.

“It’s not a problem.” Denki chirped out placing his glasses back on his face, “I feel fine.” His eyebrows pinched up as his shoulders fell back and his nose tilted up towards the sky like he needed a divine intervention to give them a miracle.  _ Yeah!  _ That was what their team needed, just a miracle. So hopefully with a slight joy filled smile he said, “I guess, we can try again.”

“TRY AGAIN?” Iwabe shouted, his single strand of hair that always drifted so lovely over his face bounced, as he jerked his head to the side. Baring his teeth as if taking a stand against a pack of hungry lions the older boy spat out, “TRY! TRY! TRY! IT’S ALL WE DO!” His eyes flashed as he dramatically pointed to the sun setting. “It’s about to be night time already! We still haven’t gotten any better, because we haven’t DONE IT!”

_ When were they going to stop TRYING and actually start doing? _

The slim smile that once decorated Denki’s face melted like an ice cube did in the sun. He couldn’t say he was disappointed at how quick the cheap thrill of hope had left him. Sure hope and joy had correspondence, but joy with someone or something lasted forever. Hope was a brief weight finally lifted off his shoulders. There might be more hope for him in the future, if the future didn’t look so dark and gray, if his future didn’t actually look like….

“We’re going TO DO THIS.” Iwabe commanded, his breathing getting more staggered as he amped up the volume of his voice. The boy was taking charge of the group, just like how he felt he had an obligation to do being the oldest and most experienced. This was  _ his  _ job. Why couldn’t they just let him do this? Dusting off some of the dirt from his clothes he blurted orders, “We are going to stay at this until...until…” He searched his brain for a proper time for them to give up, but then he recalled how there was _ no break on the path to being the best.  _ So clapping his hands he ushered, “Until we finally find and master our team combo!”

Nodding his head vigorously with just a burst of possible new combinations, Denki agreed. “Okay.” He weakly gave a thumbs up. Honestly, he enjoyed being a ninja. He indulged in learning new moves and with Iwabe’s inspiration there was not a single doubt in his mind, that  _ all together _ they could make this work. “Can we try, me throwing Metal this time around?” He suggested.

Metal legs started to wobble together upon hearing Denki ask  _ for him _ to be thrown. He nervously tried to deny that over being an option, “I-I...I don’t know if that’s really a g-oooo...gggg..goooood...good idea?” He was saying this mostly because he wasn’t about to feel the pain of being dropped. Even if it was going to be a short drop to the ground, there was no way he wanted to sleep feeling that pain.

“Why not?”

“W-weellll…..”

“It’s okay, you can trust me, Metal.”

“I-I...I know.. It’s just..”

“I won’t let you down!”

There was a slight snicker of laughter from on the woods, it seemed to bounce off many trees to reach to clearing where they were practicing in. The sudden outburst made the whole enter team freeze, their ears taking in a deaf tone bleak silence for a while. A brief stillness made their hearts race with anxiety of suddenly not knowing who was around. Three pairs of eyes darted back and forth, as their bodies relaxed into position of battle preparing for whatever showed itself.

“If you see something strange…” Iwabe muttered lowly as he wrapped his finger around his hammer, “Throw a shuriken at it.” He lowered his head slightly as the tip of his hair wrap negated some of the sun from his field of vision.

Immedaily Metal lee broke out into a panic, barely able to keep a firm grip as he reached for the  shurikens on his side. “I-I...I don’t think.. I’m ready for this…!” His whole entire hand shook as he let out a squeal as the sound of  _ multiple _ footsteps  _ running _ came closer. 

_ Oh why?? Why was there multiple? _

_ Why couldn’t it just be A SINGLE! _

“Don’t worry!” Denki insisted cheerfully as he pulled out a shuriken. Boldly he told Metal, “We’re a team. We stick together, watch each other backs and don’t let each other down.”

“D-ddd..did you throw in the last part fo-rr..or cruel irony ab..bout me having dropped you earlier?” Metal asked as he found himself cowering down to his knees.

“Of course, he didn't!” Iwabe exclaimed almost upset at how optimist Denki was being and how stupid Metal was acting. His mind was boggled at how at the first sign of danger his team completely fell apart, like a crushed cracker.  _ Well more so a soggy cracker, but still a weak bread item.  _ So almost forcefully he found himself confessing, “He, is TOO nice for that! Denki is too nice to anyone and anything!”

“Well, not nice to bugs. I crush those...”

“We’re not talking about bugs!”

“I once accidentally killed my pet fish.”

“Oh my gosh! Did I ask for your life story?”

The sound of footsteps rustling and making their way through the trees grew louder and louder, with each bickering sound sent through the air from the team. Everyone seemed to hold their breath as they back up, crowding in on each other almost cowardly. 

Well no, it was more like,  _ Metal Lee _ crowded and back into  _ Denki _ which made  _ Denki  _ start to get a bit nervous and back up into  _ Iwabe.  _ Poor  _ Iwabe _ had no one to lean on so he locked arms with  _ Denki _ in a vicarious way in contrast to his usual boldness. Yet strangely, Iwabe didn’t feel weak or helpless when his arms locked around Denki’s. 

There was charisma flowing through Iwabe that triggered an explosive yell from his throat, that was more like a battle cry. “All right you creeps! Come out so I can beat your face into the ground for trying to run up on me and my friends!”

“Don’t threaten them!” Metal begged for forgiveness squabbling, “Sorry! Sorry! He didn’t mean it! He didn’t mean..”

“Yes he did!” Denki declared backing up Iwabe’s judgement. “If Iwabe said he can do something, then he can!” A breeze ran through his black hair making it bend slightly as he pushed a bit of it away with his free hand. The wind seemed to be mirroring his hyped up mood as his orbs glittered as he said, “If Iwabe says we can do something, it can be done. Which mean, whatever or whoever comes out of those woods is going down.”

Iwabe looked down at the smaller male leaning against his side. A slight smirk rolling on his red lips as he tightened his grip on his hammer, raising it in the air pointing at the entrance of the woods like a target. “LET’S GET IT!”

Then Iwabe let out a loud almost coyote like war screech, only to be followed by Denki who let out a high pitched squeal, and Metal joined in as he was more so crying pleading to be saved like he was surrounded by lunatics who lost their minds.

Only for them all be shocked when Inojin, Shikadai and Chocho emerged from the woods almost as frantically and panicked as their classmates were to see them. Inojin pulling out his scrolls ready to jump into action asking, “Where’s the desperate cries for help that sound like a cat hanging from a ceiling fan coming from?”

Chocho pointed at the other kids saying, “I think it’s them… Honestly, they look like a living train wreck. What type of team formation is that?”

Shikadai’s eye twitched as he clamped his hands over his ears, like was bound to rip them off he screamed, “Shut the hell up!” His mean rash tone seemed to snap team 5 from their jumbled up screaming, as they blinked blankly taking in the sight before them.

“Ummm..” Metal lee was still laying low as he huskily whimpered, “Did you guys see any monsters in there?”

“Monsters? There are no such thing as monsters. Just ugly works of art.” Inojin explained lowering his paint brush. “So no, we didn’t run into any. We heard screaming from our practice spot and rushed over.”

“But the maniacal laughing.”

“That is just Shikidai’s regular laugh.”

“My laugh is not maniacal!” Shikadai growled as he shoved his hands in his pockets, “And I wouldn’t have been laughing if I didn’t hear such a funny joke.” Flicking some of his black hair from his eyes he pointed at Denki placing the blame on him, “It’s your fault.”

Pointing to himself dumbfounded, Denki questioned, “My fault?” The boy sucked his lips inwards a bit complaining, “I don’t get how this is my fault.”

“Yeah, Denki didn’t do anything.” Iwabe said getting a bit bold as he took a step in front of the smaller boy blocking Shadikai from pointing at him. The taller boy cocked his head to the side as he grit his teeth, “Don’t blame other people for your own shortcomings.”

Slowly Shikadai’s brows furrowed arching up into an expression of disbelief as he challenged, “So you were serious about considering Denki to possible throw Metal?” He made a brush off motion over to them saying, “Can Denki even lift Metal?”

Being called out on his strengths, Denki thought his heart stopped. He had always assumed being around his friend’s made sharing his ideas a free and safe zone. With his friends, when they hung out it was  _ supposed to be  _ a safe place. So he couldn’t help but shoot daggers at Shikadai for suggesting such a thing. Clenching his hands into a fist he dropped his kunai to the ground, “How could you say that?” He hollered out.

“I’m just saying the truth…You’re a little weak compared to the rest of us. You have not a single drop of shinobi blood in your body.” Shikadai frowned slightly not understanding why Denki was getting so upset with him.

“That doesn’t matter! Boruto said I can do..”

“Boruto says a lot of stuff that doesn’t make it true.”

Almost choking on swallowing his own spit, the idea of once more being dropped on his face loomed over Metal as he found himself at a crossroad of how to explain. “Look...D-Denki..Let’s just ca-alm…”

Shaking his head Denki began to compile facts together, “Besides it’s good to change things up if something is not working right. It’s not just a good business strategy but also in real life.”

“If...iff...if something’s not broke don’t fix it?” Metal lee attempted to prose as he felt the looks of Chocho and Inojin glaring at them like they were being a nuisance in their training time.

“That’s it!” Denki rose to his feet, taking up a stick with him on his way up exclaiming, “We are broke!” He motioned the stick over to Iwabe preaching, “You said it yourself, we can't get this move because we’re not doing it. In order to do it, it must be set up right so let’s just try different combinations.” He dropped the stick downwards using the end of it to draw in the dirt, “If we switch stuff up, we can test out what works or not. So just give me a chance!” There was a few utter heart wrenching cries of desperation in Denki’s voice.

If one listened softly to it, Denki’s lecture sounded more like he was praying. Praying for a single shot to  _ prove himself.  _  Iwabe could see the desperation as well, riddled all over Denki’s little face, from the facial expression as well as the shadows that danced across it. How such a shallow cry out could erupt such an explosion in Iwabe’s heart was incredible, but his brain warned him. ‘ _ Put Denki on the wing and prepare to fail. The boy’s too frail...look at him. You saw how he wiped out. Plus you don’t want to fail again do you?’ _ Unable to say, ‘ _ no _ ’ to his friend’s face he just turned his head walking away.

But Inojin spoke up for him saying, “That’s not why your team is broke.” The blonde walked up to Denki straight up being honest with him saying, “Your team is broke because you all don’t know who you are yet. Neither of you know where you fit on the team…..that..” The words rolled off his tongue so deadly, that he might have well just stabbed Denki in the heart from admitting, “Is what makes your team weak. You have nothing to bring to the table. No proper transaction of power is being made.”

A pissed off grunt came out of Iwabe’s mouth, “Shut up! Like you all know any better! Didn’t we beat you before?” His blood started to boil as he looked at the somber expression that graced Denki’s face. It was so powerful that he froze in his tracks repeating the words, “We did beat you before so buzz off, art boy.”

“Hehe..” Inojin blinked his pasty blue eyes as his face flickered red with embarrassment he confessed, “That was a fluke. A mistake that wouldn’t be repeated, if we were to face each other again.” Watching Iwabe’s body shift with anger it made the boy take a bit of pity on him. He raised a finger twisting a loose strand of his blond hair as he put out the invitation, “If you don’t believe me, we can go right here, right now.”   


“Don’t encourage them to get beat, Inojin.” Shikadai muttered cracking his knuckles, “We’re supposed to be uplifting our classmates.”

“Don’t talk about uplifting when you just criticized Denki!” Iwabe was now breathing awfully heavily. His mind was spinning as he slammed his hammer on the ground. Frustration was readily filling him hollering, "You...you..hypocr-”

Shikadai clicked his tongue cutting him off snapping, “First of all, it’s called constructive criticism. Second of all, you think he’s too weak as well! Why else wouldn’t you have let him do it?” 

Iwabe’s dark brown eye shrunk in his socket as they trembled slightly, his jaw slacked down slightly agape as he found himself coming to terms that he was slowly being out team captained by someone who wasn’t even really on their team. Worse of all now here he was being called out in front of all of his team, like he was some sort of weak pansy.

_ Just scared of fucking failing again. _

_ Terrified of failing after he got this damn far! _

Tears brimmed up in Denki’s eyes as he began to plead, “You’ll let me do it, right Iwabe? You believe in me.” His slender hand pawed at Iwabe’s skin, tenderly like a lost puppy, his somber eyes spoke for themselves, a tale of lifelong trust and dedication. Numerous times Denki had proved his loyalty to Iwabe, while on the other hand, zero times had Iwabe proved that he trusted in him other than getting a grade. Denki clung to Iwabe, pressing his head on the taller male’s shoulder, leaning on him for a hand he whimpered, “Please….Please say...yes.”

“No…” Chocho responded as if the answer was so obvious, “No matter what you do, you guys will always be the weakest team. It’s just how the world works, all clear that there is strong. Like us.” She raised her hand as an example of her team. “There is natural born talent. Like Boruto, Sarada and Mitsuki.” Then she sneered motioning to the rest of the village, “Then there is the moderates who try their hardest to move up in power.” Finally her light brown eyes settled on them declaring, “Also there is the weak. Who will remain as such because it’s practically impossible to move up from that status in a world like this.”

“You’re wrong!” Denki nystagmic eyes missed nothing as they shifted around catching every flinch Iwabe made listening to her words. He shook his friend, rapidly tugging on his arm protesting, “Tell her Iwabe! Tell her she’s wrong! I know she’s wrong! Metal knows she’s wrong! We all know she’s wrong!” 

His eyes turned cow his body ambled away when Denki swore he heard, “We can’t compete with them..” Fall from Iwabe’s lips set in a grim line clearly upset.

Apart of Denki couldn’t comprehend why Iwabe would say such a thing. His mouth slacked open in disbelief as he felt their whole entire team’s moral sink to a new low, and it was like the world’s most sourest lemonade was being forced down his throat while someone was yelling at him,  _ “Chug it!”  _ At the top of their lungs which made his ears ring as his heart galloped, he felt his legs turn to jello as he froze up.

Metal slouched over with shame as he murmurs, “Maybe our team wasn’t meant to have a combo…” Dipping his head down so that his hair covered up the betrayed expression on his face he started to walk away. “So why even attempt.”

“Oh, come on!” Denki tried to encourage tugging on Iwabe next to him, but much to his surprise the taller boy jolted his arm away. 

_ Iwabe had just pulled away from Denki… _

_ That never used to happen before. _

The action made Denki once again clench up his dirty little fist as his face turned most crimson with fury he shouted at Iwabe, “Come on! I know you’re not really acting like this! After all you said to us! After...you tried so hard to encourage us?” His eyes blinked back a dam full of tears as his lips were forced downwards by gravity, “What was all that?”

Mystified with only a foggy way to answer, Iwabe kept his lips sealed up tight like a zip lock back. Not a storage bag because the more he pondered over the facts, the more it dawned on him. This burden over his chest was one not wanting to held back, sure it was freedom but with the cost of uncertainty that if he couldn’t mold the future then what good was it? What good was anything if control couldn’t be forced upon it to make stuff better?

He’d be damned if he lied. Iwabe was no liar so he wasn’t about to pretend like this was okay. There was no other option, as much as he wanted to elaborate, it seemed like it would only make more of a mess.  _ What a shame…. _ Iwabe couldn’t act like a hero to save the day and clear up some things. Only on choice was dawning up, making his brain ring, a single command,  _ run…. Just run away and leave.  _ Yeah, if he left no way would he be forced to answer and subdue to the fact that what was loss was never coming back.

Barely lifting up his feet, his sandals dragged against the dirt as it kicked right back up at him. His heart was melting like candle wax as the fire of realization burned him back down. All he wanted was to work harder~ after he overcame on hurdle it always felt like there was some wanker one just waiting to be conquered.

“Iwabe...please,” Frantically Denki caught onto Iwabe’s smooth hands. His fingers intertwined with his larger one’s as for a brief second their eyes met. Hazelnut eyes mixed with coffee toned eyes creating a warm fuzzy feeling to boil up in Denki’s gut. For a moment he breath easy knowing that Iwabe might break out into hero mode at anytime. That for a light glimmer of faith graced his face surprised yet slightly confused by Iwabe’s actions. Timidly he clung to him softly speaking out, “Don’t go…” Denki allowed a single tears to slip down his face and in a hushed tone urged, “I need you here, right now.”

“Y-y...you? You need me?” There was a crushing tone in his voice that hinted that he never planned to agreed to any of this. His face flushed red as he rubbed his friend hand softly, “I want to stay…” Iwabe wasted no time proclaiming unable to deny the cute gleam of how big Denki’s eyes were behind his glasses.

“Yes. Please, thank you.” Denki blurted out, “You’re such a good person.”

“But….I’m not as good as you. I can’t.” Iwabe declared letting go of Denki’s hand like it was a stinging hot plate of food. Food that he wanted to devour and was hungry for…  _ but he couldn’t have.  _ The food wasn’t made for him to feast upon so his craving would never be satisfied.

“But you’re part of this team! You’re like the icing that holds us together! We’re like a cake and nobody likes a dry cake.” Denki attempted to mash a whole bunch of analogies together in order for his idea to make sense and come across, even though he figured they wouldn’t.

“He’s better than you.” Shikadai shrugged as he watched Iwabe slowly start to walk away after Metal Lee, both of the boys giving up in defeat of the day. His eyes locked with the Iwabe’s as he told him, “And you know it was unfortunate for you to be put on a squad with those two. You’re the only strong peg your team has. You’re the leader because you know you’re better than them, and that you could have done better than them if you graduated on time.”

The blond haired male tiredly fanned his face with his hand, hot a bit already from being outside he muttered, “Yeah, you’re probably mad too. Anyone would be mad always having to carry their team.” Inojin cut his eyes at Iwabe eager to see his reaction, but none came.

Other than Iwabe making longer strides that soon broke out into a run attempting to hightail it out of the clearing, his strides were stiff with anger with his brain pounding with rage upset that it was unable to find answers to questions that he didn’t know the clear meaning of.   _ It was so freaking unfair! _  The world now suddenly making him choose where his strengths lay. It wasn’t that he never considered it before it was just that all of a sudden a storm was brewing inside his mind and each time he looked at Denki it reminded him.

_ Trust was placed in him and he failed to deliver… _

_ Maybe Iwabe was just a bundle of failure at this point! _

How was he supposed to form up to create the best team, when he couldn’t even form up and create enough sense in his mind to overcome that the past was supposed to be left back there? Whatever team he had in his so-called-friends back then was dead now. They were gone now away from him living better lives because,  _ they could pass.  _ They weren’t failures. They weren’t raking up F- with each test and barely balancing academics and  the path to becoming a ninja. 

All he longed to do was just unchain the failing curse from him, it was like a bad omen that he just couldn’t shake and nor did it seemed to want to part from him. Denki  _ said _ he could do it. Denki placed his faith in Iwabe that he could do it! Denki had always believed in him, when Iwabe could never return the favor. How could someone be that nice? How could someone openly pour out their heart and give their all to someone who didn’t even deserve it?

_ Denki could…. _ He gave and he gave, and he gave….to Iwabe. In hope that he could encourage him, light a fire in him, inspire him when things got rough. Denki was always at Iwabe’s side to give a cheer~ Denki was like Iwabe’s cheerleader. A single man pep squad who saw nothing but goodness within him.

“Iwabe! Why won’t you listen to me?” Denki’s voice cut through the air loud like a shotgun, it snapped Iwabe back into reality. He could hear the loud huffing and puffing of Denki chasing after him again.

_ Denki always ran after Iwabe to drag him back into the light.  _

_ Denki ran after Iwabe to ensure he never drifted too far away from the good side. _

However, it amazed Iwabe how effortlessly Denki could drive him crazy. The sudden thought of him made his lips tingle and spin upwards in a smile. A completely unexpected smiled that he couldn’t control or stop from spreading on his lips soon as Denki’s familiar touch graced his skin. 

A touch he  _ didn’t want _ right now… because he knew he couldn’t keep running from his problems like they didn’t exist.

“Ya know what?” Iwabe spun around, the heel of his sandals skidding on top of rocks. He placed his hands on Denki’s small shoulders yelling at the 12 year old, “Why do you run after me? I feel like I’m suffocating right now! I feel like I’m completely being smothered b-”

“Weakness?” Denki’s voice cracked as it raised an octave high leaving his greatest fear out in the open, “Do you think we’re all too weak for you?” His eyes watered once more as he pulled off his glasses, trying to be firm. “If that’s what you think then, I DON'T WANT YOUR PITY OR FOR YOU TO STAND UP FOR ME ANYMORE!”

“Pity?” Iwabe echoed numbly taken back by the declaration. He leaned in near him the tip of their noses touching delicately as he questioned almost disgusted, “You think… I’m pitying you?” In an offended tone he barked, “IS THAT WHAT YOU TAKE ME FOR? I’m not as soft as Boruto ya know! I’m not going to pull something so…”

“Then why are acting like this!” Denki snapped back. With his free hand he waved it in the air making sure Iwabe caught sight of nothing but all the trees all around them. “You said we weren’t leaving until we started doing! Then after doing mastering. Yet now you have the audacity to walk away.”

“I’m not wal..” A slight laugh slipped out of Iwabe’s mouth as he came to the fact that what Denki was spitting was actually true. Still he found his stomach flip-flop with the need to defend himself, “Haha...Okay! So I am! It takes a professional to walk away, ya know? It takes a professional to face problems head on!”

“Are you really facing your problems like this?”

“YES!”

“I don’t think so. I think that you let their words get to you! I think that you always allow other people to bring you down.”

“WELL… WELL.. WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME ANYTHING?” 

Denki raised an eyebrow as he tilted his head to the side as if analyzing to see Iwabe’s face. A sick feeling washed over him as his caring eyes slowly sank into one’s of dismay, he closed them. Shameful he raised his hand placing them over his shuttering eyelids he sadly uttered out, “I cannot tell the strong anything, can I?”

Iwabe sucked his teeth and glared at Denki harshly. He couldn't tell if this kid was serious or not. Half of Iwabe wanted to slap him and the other half wanted to shower him in kisses.“What?” Iwabe started connecting the pieces. “Don’t tell me you actually believe them! You said I shouldn't believe what people say yet here you are!” He choked out as his face flushed with embarrassment, he squeezed his friends shoulder, “They just said that beca-”

“ITS TRUE!” Denki let out a thrilling scream from his wet throat as his tiny body shook. More tears fell from his eyes as he whined out, “I know… I knew it soon as I laid eyes on you. I admired you. I wanted… I wanted to be like you! I was so happy to be on a team with you, BECAUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE!” Dark black eyes shot open fill of tears streaming down his red tinted face as his body jerked up and down bouncing with rage, as if he could feel the power tingling in his veins. He sobbed, “I FELT THAT ANYTHING WAS POSSIBLE!”

Iwabe stared at Denki completely mesmerized by the tears streaking his face and the feel of his small body trembling against his. He could now understand why Denki remained so optimistic in the face of disaster. It was because that was all Denki could hold onto was the slim chance of hope that things were going to get better. It  _ had  _ to get better for him.

Denki had everything to lose by becoming a shinobi. He was going against his parents wishes and putting everything on the line for a  _ dream _ . A dream that Denki had finally made a reality by the headband that now decorated his forehead.

“I...just… I always wanted.. You’re such a good ninja.” Denki murmured barely above a whisper as his shoulders drooped his heart breaking with each word, “Why can’t we just...Why can’t we all… All of us to be a happy team together? I don’t want this to be the end of us! Everyday when we would train, no matter how hard you never gave up. It’s because you’re so strong. It encouraged me to work even harder.”

“Tch…” Iwabe rolled his eyes skywards as he fought back the pride boiling in him. “I’m not that awesome as you make me out to be.” It was painful to see Denki talks about him like some sort of hero when in reality it was the opposite. Taking up His friend’s glasses he fumbled around with the frames, before pushing them back up on Denki’s face informing him, “I’m a kid just like you. We’re the same, Denki. Don’t you realize that? Honestly how badly do you really want this to work out if you cannot see the proof right in front of you?”

“I want  _ this _ more than anything!” Denki shouted stomping his foot firmly taking a stand for what he believed was right. His eyes blazed as he looked up at his friend, his hand traced up the inner side of Iwabe’s arm. His lips parted willingly as his face morphed into one of suffering reflecting on how his mind felt tired of spinning round in this circle of explanations. “I want you  _ more _ than anything.”

“Well you can’t!” Iwabe found himself yelling even though he didn’t know why he was yelling it because his heart was saying yes while his brain was all like,‘ _ if you get him, you’ll just fail again.’  _ He grabbed the bit of cloth on his heart bundling his fist around it as it bunched up tightly. The action was done as if it could silence the sound of the rapid pounding to finally hush. 

But Denki grabbed him, the smaller boy placing his hand on top of Iwabe’s. Unwilling to let go he huffed, “Why can’t I? Why can’t you let me help you? Just like we did before? We did amazing things together Iwabe.” His eyes sparkled with defiance as he felt the feeling of fear engulfing Iwabe, as he muttered, “Unless it’s because you see as nothing more than a burden and light weight to the team. In that case, I’ll leave you alone. YOU NEVER HAVE TO SEE ME AGING IF MY WEAKNESS DISGUST YOU THAT MUCH! ”

“Look, if you’re digging for compliments.” Iwabe’s eyes fluttered shut delicately as he admitted, “I’m not very good at giving them. I’m also not very good at judging people because I only go off what I see.” His fingertips felt like zaps of lightning shot through them as he pulled Denki closer, nervously he hugged him against his chest. He found himself mumbling, “I won’t say the answer you’re looking for. I won’t ever tell you what you want to hear. Because I feel like you’re trying to make me into someone I’m not.”

“I want you to give your honest opinion about me.” Denki whispered out as he threw his arms around Iwabe. His tiny arms barely wrapping around the taller boy, “I know I’m too trustworthy...and that people will let me down every time. But with every mistake I’ll move forward and never give up on people. So just tell me the truth! I don’t care if it hurts, I’ve been hurt before.”

Gently Iwabe unclasped his fist from his heart, and panned his hand out to trace his thumb sweetly over Denki’s tear stained red cheeks, “I cannot control what strength you have. Only you can control what you do. Only you can see what your true potential is and go beyond what’s imaginable. All I can do is help.” Iwabe confessed feelings himself at peace finally able to come clean about that. “But when I help people, I think I’ll fail them. Just like I do on most of my test… Because people are sort of like test and obstacles. You never know how people might react in the end so, it’s hard to ace and understand them.”

“Iwabe, what are you talking about?”

“That you’re like the hardest test I’ve ever taken and I don’t wanna fail you!”

“Iwabe that’s impossible!”

“How so? I fail at every test I’m given practically! I’m just a living F bomb magnet! All I do is fa-”

Denki pushed upwards on his tippy toes, his length gaining a few extra inches as his tender thin pink lips mashed on top of Iwabe’s gliding over them like butter being spread on toast. 

_ It was like the world had suddenly stopped spinning for Iwabe. _ As if suddenly his life had hit a point of equilibrium where time stood still and the leaves stopped rustling in the wind and the sound of Inojin, ChoCho and Shikadai training in the background had hushed. 

_ It was like now life before his eyes was revealing a new path.  _ A path lit up by the flames of hope and faith that Denki was pressing  _ upon him. _

That instinctively Iwabe  _ pressed _ back.

Suddenly it appeared that he’d bisected, that half of him wanted to sing out and screaming in joy. While the other half of him wanted to collapse on the ground from embarrassment of wanting to die right now. His legs trembled a bit as he felt himself melting into the kiss. It was a short kiss, probably not lasting more that 3 second but it was incredible nonetheless and the  _ words!  _ Oh gosh, the words that Iwabe swore he heard slip out of Denki’s mouth was like he was an angel singing.

“You can’t fail my test, Iwabe. You already passed.” A bright smile flooded Denki’s face as he grinned ear to ear, with anglitter of pink blush tenderly washing over him. The 12 year old rocking chair on his feet teetering back and forth as he hugged Iwabe wanting to feel more of his warmth from the cold outside. “You passed a long time ago with flying colors.”

Iwabe’s eyes went wide as he blurted out, “YOU MEAN I ACTUALLY PASSED A TEST I NEVER STUDIED FOR!?” He said it completely off guard like he couldn’t believe it all. It seemed ethereal to all his possibilities. It now appeared that maybe he was wrong, maybe his future didn’t need to be shaped by unanswered questions that left him running around in circles. Maybe he could just start living for today to see how his tomorrow turned out.

_ Because if Denki believed in him and wanted him to keep training and practicing then Iwabe would. _

“Yeah, I was shocked you passed too.” Denki chuckled as gave a playful wink at Iwabe, “But I’m not going to argue with correct results.”

Genuinely happy Iwabe cupped Denki’s face whispering in the cool air around them, “Good. Just promise to be gentle with my heart it’s been dropped too many times before.” The smoke cloud that came out of his mouth seemed to wrap around the two of them forming hearts in the air a smile rested on both their faces.

So Denki swooned when Iwabe leaned in for another kiss their mouths bumping when kissing because both of them just couldn’t stop smiling almost stupidly with embarrassment at each other. Their lips kept knocking into each other as their teeth grazed scraping because each awkward kiss, lead to another ugly awkward kiss, which in a chain reaction created another because  _ they could have many first kisses long as the love and trusting connection was still there. _

Each quick peck on the lips were like a mini explosion of firecrackers going off.  Because everything about Denki is lovely to Iwabe! His sweet voice, His cherished laugh, his precious smile, his dark eyes, his quick wit, yet most importantly his kind heart. While for Denki he was falling head over feet for Iwabe’s sensitive side and his sometimes silly thought process. He loved it all.  _ Denki would care for it all. _

Leaning out of their kiss Iwabe said, “They haven’t seen anything yet if they think...I’m strong then…” He took a few steps back as he reached for his hammer that he leaned against a tree. “Then better just wait till we get Metal! Because you know what? You’re right! I should have never have doubted our skills. Sure we may suck ass but, if sucking ass is what we’re good at then we’ll be the best at that. We’ll be so amazing that they won’t say we suck anymore!”

Denki’s eyes lit up with excitement, “So let’s go get Metal and go back to training!” He let out a gleeful laugh. A bashful smile spread on his face as he asked, “You don’t mind me giving commands like that do you?”

“Of course not!” Iwabe insisted as he locked hands with Denki telling him, “You said it yourself, change is good if you want to see results. You should try out experimenting in different positions to see what works.”

“So you’re going to let me throw Metal?”

“Hell yeah.”

“Can I throw you?”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Time is a valuable thing that we should respect…”

“I can’t wait to spend all the rest of my time with you then.” Denki mumbled as followed behind Iwabe. Symbolic maybe that Iwabe was watching out and guiding him through the forest but yet Denki knew this action wasn’t showing that he was fragile. The smaller boy knew that Iwabe wasn’t really one to run his mouth and that to him results mattered more than blabbering. So when Iwabe didn’t acknowledge that Denki’s strength laid in being a reliable figure for the team, it was because he  _ didn’t have to. _

Iwabe never had to admit he saw Denki as stronger than him, because he was rebellious and faithful enough to believe that even when he went against his father everything would turn out okay. The sun would still rise, the birds would still sing, and his heart would still be beating to the melody of a shinobi.

Which might actually be the hardest test of all, because a TRUE shinobi  _ never _ turned their back on a friend.

**Author's Note:**

> This book was sorta like ep16......but Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful day! be sure to leave comments on how I can improve my writing in anyway. If I have any spelling errors or such I'll be sure to fix it. Any questions or concerns can be commented below or tell me here [ tumblr](https://sunshine-boruto.tumblr.com/)


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